Story of Chandigarh

In this episode, we explore the Assembly building in Chandigarh. We discuss the evolution of its design, examining how it became the focal point of the Capitol Complex. We also critique the sculptural form of the building and the symbolic significance of the painted enamel door.

 

 

TIMESTAMPS:

 

1:07 - Why does the Assembly building seem to be in the centre of the Capitol? Was this always the case?

 

3:51 - How did the scrapping of the Governor’s Palace change the design and significance of the Assembly?

 

5:58 - Hyperbolic paraboloid connection to cooling towers of thermal power stations in Ahmedabad

 

9:44 - Assembly as self-conscious structure - the ‘bull’ metaphor

 

11:25 - Relationship to the cosmos in the Assembly building

 

13:47 - Developing a modernist ethics of living

 

18:10 - The sense of the sacred and divine in the Assembly chamber

 

24:32 - The roof of the Assembly with the amphitheater and bridge

 

26:19 - The painted enamel door and its visual concepts

 

28:43 - Corbusier’s fascination with the right angle

 

32:32 - The ‘potato’ cutouts as portholes or eyes

 

34:13 - The presence of the hand and its connection to arts and crafts

 

36:29 - Chandigarh, democracy and the embodiment of the Nehruvian state as a counterpoint to Lutyens’ Delhi.

In the sixth episode, we explore the Secretariat building. We discuss Corbusier’s transformation of the building, its Excel spreadsheet architecture, its oceanliner-like quality, and its potential for infinite expansion. We also highlight the uniqueness of its ramps and roof garden. 

 

TIMESTAMPS:

 

1:48 - The original ‘UN style’ vertical design and the current ‘Unité-esque’ form and orientation of the Secretariat building.

 

5:02 - The Capitol Complex as Corbusier’s playground.

 

7:28 - Analogy of the Writers’ Building in Calcutta - Secretariat as a bureaucratic machine.

 

11:55 - Utility and beauty - the Secretariat and the Oceanliner.

 

14:25 - Pilotis and uninterrupted nature - Rajendra Park and Leisure valley 

 

17:48 - Modular facade elements and rough Indian craftsmanship

 

18:56 - Excel Spreadsheet Architecture™

 

20:19 - The Ramp as a sensual, schizophrenic, heterotypic space

 

24:55 - The extruded Secretariat - infinite expansion

 

27:51 - The roof garden with the parasol viewing platform

 

35:48 - The echo of a dam in the Secretariat’s form

In the fifth episode, we’ll talk about the High Court, the first building to be constructed within the Capitol Complex. We discuss its likeness to an umbrella, its weightlessness and the experience of the uncanny. We also discuss the interiors and specifically the tapestries of the high court as well as Corbusier’s flexible approach to executing his vision.

 

TIMESTAMPS:

 

1:19 - Why was the High Court the first building to come up?

 

1:50 - The ‘umbrella’ analogy: visual, literary, mythological

 

5:35 - Making it look structural:  The visual trickery of the roof and arches of the high court

 

9:02 - Cooling the air by compressing and releasing the prevailing winds

 

10:27 - A building in which Corbusier engages all the elements

 

14:28 - Weightlessness of the high court building ; plan-elevation interplay

 

19:36 - ‘Doubling’ of the facade in the reflecting pools; horizontal symmetry

 

25:04 - The experience of the ‘uncanny’ & the Barcelona Pavilion

 

32:38 - Multiplicity of readings in works of art

 

33:39 - The pylons marking a ‘ramp in the sky’

 

35:24 - The hidden extension to the high court

 

38:52 - The tapestries and the symbols of law, balance and harmony

 

42:21 - Rough texture of ‘hand-poured’ concrete

 

44:37 -  Corbusier’s flexible approach to execution and foreseeing future changes

 

48:59 - The ramp as architectural promenade 

In the fourth episode, we discuss the implications of the UNESCO Heritage designation for the Capitol Complex on Chandigarh. We discuss Corbusier's process of siting the Capitol and its connection to cubism and the cosmos. We also talk about the intentionally open-ended quality of the Capitol Complex and how it relates to the future of citizenry and a faith in the nation's future. 

 

TIMESTAMPS:

 

1:08 - The UNESCO Heritage Tag for the Capitol Complex and its consequences. Which parts of the city were included and why wasn’t the whole city included?

 

5:31 - Barbed wire, controlled access to the Capitol and guided tours

 

6:01 - Eurocentric exclusion of Jeanneret and other architects from UNESCO recognition

 

10:44 - The Capitol as Corbusier’s tour de force

 

14:39 - The siting of the buildings in the Capitol

 

17:00 - Corbusier and cubist architecture

 

21:37 - Corbusier’s fascination with India’s rural landscape and integration of the city and the village.

 

25:06 - Monumentality, temples and the cosmos in relation to the Capitol

 

30:48 - Buildings as celestial objects; the Capitol and its invocation of the sky

 

34:30 - The ‘East-West’ dichotomy and the change in perception of Chandigarh after the 70s and postmodernism

 

40:31 - Corruption, the Emergency and the attack on Nehruvian modernism

 

44:05 - The Open Hand, Nehru’s Non-Aligned Movement and the Third World. 

 

46:52 - The open-ended, leaky Capitol Complex

 

49:28 - Citizenry, anticipatory democracy and nation building in the context of Chandigarh and India

 

52:49 - Aesthetic masterpieces of Le Corbusier OR crowning achievements of the aspirations of the Indian nation state and its faith in the future?

In this episode, we will talk about the development of the Chandigarh masterplan. We will look at the design strategy behind the streets, the philosophy of the sector and the role of 'mistakes' in the masterplan. We'll also learn how Corbusier paid homage to the Mayer-Nowicki plan as well as the anthropomorphic nature of the Chandigarh plan. Finally, we'll briefly discuss the placement of the Capitol Complex and the Sukhna Lake. 

 

TIMESTAMPS:

 

1:13 - What was the thinking behind the zig-zag arrangement of the sectors? Where is sector 13?

 

4:59 - The reason behind the curve in the Madhya Marg and other east-west marks

 

6:46 - ‘Mistakes’ in the masterplan; embracing the perfectly imperfect roughness of the concrete

 

8:57 - Reasons behind the hierarchy embedded in the plan and housing types

 

10:33 - Where is the ‘heart’ of the city? What makes sector-22 special?

 

13:08 - Corbusier’s proposal of mass housing blocks for Chandigarh; the extendability of the Secretariat

 

16:00 - The modularity of the masterplan set up for southward expansion

 

18:22 - Anthropomorphism in Chandigarh’s plan; the logic of the green belts as continuous playing fields

 

21:28 - The layout of the sector and homage to Mayer & Nowicki in the Corbusier plan in certain sectors

 

25:24 - Special sectors for museums (sector 10) and schools (sector 26)

 

27:54 - Was the golf course and Chandigarh club part of the original brief for the city?

 

30:56 - Corbusier complaining to Nehru and not being paid enough

 

33:35 - The internal facing sector houses, sheltered from traffic across the city

 

35:35 - The ‘displacement’ of villages to accommodate the masterplan; except for temples

 

37:22 - Chandigarh’s unique tree planting strategy and MS Randhawa’s role

 

41:21 - The siting of the Capitol Complex compared to the Mayer-Nowicki plan

 

44:24 - PL Verma, dams and a brief history of the lake

 

In this episode we will talk about how the Chandigarh Capital Project team was selected. When did Corbusier and Jeanneret enter the picture and how was the rest of the team assembled? Who were the people displaced by Chandigarh and where did the labourers involved in the city's construction come from? We will also discuss the team's heirarchy and how the work was divided amongst them.

 

TIMESTAMPS:

 

1:07 - How and when did Le Corbusier become a part of the team?

 

3:23 - Was the idea of a competition ever floated to select the architects?

 

5:03 - How did Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry enter the project, following their African experience?

 

7:34 - Corbusier’s terms and conditions for joining the Chandigarh project

 

8:36 - The deal: Jeanneret to be in Chandigarh on behalf of Corbusier

 

12:24 - Corbusier’s preference to work from home

 

14:55 - CIAM’s role in globalising modernist architecture

 

17:46 - The false East-West dichotomy in Chandigarh’s discourse

 

19:51 - Criteria for selecting the younger architects

 

22:58 - Chandimandir rest house office as described by Mulk Raj Anand; how Corbusier ‘shrunk’ the Mayer plan.

 

27:30 - Land surveying and road laying by the engineers before shifting the office to Chandigarh

 

28:33 - The first building in Chandigarh - Capital Project Office in Nagla (Sector-19)

 

28:53 - The first houses came up in sector 22 to house the architects and engineers

 

30:28 - Labourers showed up in Chandigarh… from where? Were they trained on-site?

 

31:11 - The untold stories of the people and villages displaced to make way for Chandigarh

 

35:26 - The first ‘inhabitants’ of Chandigarh

 

36:17 - Corbusier fascinated by Indians carrying their beds on their heads!

 

37:00 - Jeanneret’s design for the Sector-19  Planners’ Office

 

38:46 - How the junior architects joined the team

 

39:44 - How was the work divided amongst the architects?

 

41:51 - The order of constructing the institutional buildings

 

42:57 - The conflict between white painted plaster and exposed bricks

 

 

 

In our first episode, join us as we explore the origins of the modernist city of Chandigarh, with Dr. Vikramāditya Prakāsh. How did the partition of India and Pakistan lead to its creation? Who were the idealized inhabitants of this utopian city? How was the site selected? What was the Garden City movement, how does it relate to Nehruvian modernism?

 

 

TIMESTAMPS:

• 1:07 - Why Chandigarh? The need for a new capital city of Punjab in post partition India.
• 5:24 - Nehru, modernist and industrialisation;  modernism architecture as a global movement   
• 9:42 - British Colonialism and western industrialisation; transfer of wealth.
• 12:07 - Albert Mayer and Gandhi, Lewis Mumford and Mathew Nowicki.
• 15:12 - Partition and migration; utopian aspirations of the newly independent India; Chandigarh - imagined capital of Nehruvian India.
• 19:25 - Inventing a new, ideal citizen of the nation state; the imagined inhabitants of Chandigarh.
• 22:38 - AL Fletcher, the brief for Chandigarh. Ebenezer Howard and the new town movement; the “Garden City” movement
• 26:00 - The Mayer plan; site selection by PL Varma and PN Thapar by helicopter“
• 28:26 -  Land acquisition by “eminent domain”; displacement and relocation; the first buildings; architect’s office
• 32:32 - The search for Nowicki’s replacement; hiring Le Corbusier.

 

Hosted & Produced by Eashan Chaufla

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